


Beyond Blood

by tini_dancer



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Adult Losers Club (IT), Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Richie Tozier, Losers Club (IT) Friendship, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Richie Tozier Has a Sister, Richie Tozier’s Family, Richie has a niece and nephew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:46:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21872422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tini_dancer/pseuds/tini_dancer
Summary: Richie Tozier hadn’t spoken to either of his parents or his sister since he was 18, deciding to go into comedy instead of going to college. It wasn’t a bad thing, for he had made his own life that he loved with his successful career, the Losers Club, and Eddie, the love of his life. He didn’t need his blood family. He had moved beyond them.That is, until a family collecting canned food to donate shows up at his and Eddie’s door, beat from the summer heat and walking. And the mother just so happens to share a name with his sister.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 3
Kudos: 113





	Beyond Blood

**Author's Note:**

> -Takes place a year after It: Chapter Two  
> -Reddie is completely in love and live together   
> -Both Eddie and Stan were brought back to life by some mysterious entity, but we all know it was the turtle

“It’s supposed to be my mom’s birthday today,” Eddie says while sitting on the couch, next to Richie, “it’s weird to think about it.”

“Why? You celebrated that wench’s birthday every year for all of your life,” Richie shrugged, “and she’s been dead for, what, six years?”

“I mean with the context of my childhood,” Eddie clarified, “when I didn’t remember Derry, I didn’t see my mom as a toxic woman. I just saw her as overprotective, like I did before It came along. Now that I remember... she was so bad. Like, evil bad. And I almost don’t want to celebrate it.”

Richie took Eddie’s hand in his and rubbed his thumb along the back of it, “Then you know what? Don’t. You don’t have to celebrate someone who treated you like shit. In fact, you shouldn’t. Hell, you don’t see me sending birthday cards to my family.”

That caught Eddie’s attention. Richie never talked about his family, not even when they were kids. Yeah, he had met his parents and younger sister on multiple occasions, even spending a few nights over when he, Richie, Bill, and Stan would have sleepovers. Nothing ever stood out as bad to Eddie when he was over at the Toziers’. Maggie and Wentworth seemed like ordinary parents, and Elizabeth was your classic 10 year old 80s kid. But they moved when Richie was 15, and even so Eddie hadn’t seen a lot of them since the fall of 1989, after Bill moved away and the original Losers Club had disbanded.

“Did something happen?” Eddie asked tentatively. Richie scoffed.

“Yeah,” he replied, “it’s called ‘they cut all ties with me when I moved to LA to become a comedian.’”

“Really?”

Richie nodded, “I graduated in the top 10% of my senior class. You know I’m not dumb, at least when it comes to academics. I was set to go to UNLV to study medicine and become a dentist like my dad. So not me, right? I was also in theater in high school, not that my parents cared. I loved it. Because of that, I found my true passion in entertainment. I knew I was funny, and I was a half-decent writer, so I decided that I wanted to become a comedian. So...I unenrolled from UNLV and asked my parents for forgiveness instead of permission. God, they hated me. They screamed at me for throwing my life away. Even Ellie was pissed. Of course she was, Miss Valedictorian. I don’t know where she ended up, because once I booked my flight, she wanted nothing to do with me. Neither did my parents. I haven’t spoken to any of them since 1994.”

Eddie stuttered over his words...”H-Holy fuck, Rich. I can’t imagine what that must have been like.”

“Well, you were a good son and kept your mom happy...well, not as happy as I could make her, but-“

“Beep beep, Richie.”

Richie couldn’t help but breathe out a laugh, “As I was saying, your mom was pleased with where you ended up in life. Even if she controlled it, you kept going to make her happy. I never did that with my mom. Even in Derry, she hated my sense of humor. She hated the way I acted with the Losers. I never was able to please her. My relationship didn’t fall apart with my dad until I decided to be a comedian. Same with Ellie.”

“It makes no sense now,” Eddie said, “first off, you’re fucking rich. I mean, here we are in your modern fancy house that has a pool and in a gated area. You’ve made a good career. Second, it’s been, what, 23 years since you fell apart? That’s too long of time. It’s your family. I’m sure they’d see you made the right choice by now.”

Richie quickly denied it, “No, I don’t think so. Someone would have reached out by now.”

Eddie shrugged, “Then you reach out.”

“Very funny, Eds.”

“I’m serious,” he continued, “it’s 2017. It’s probably not hard to find people now. I bet your sister is on Facebook. Even the smarties like her can’t deny the pull of social media.” He got up and left the room, quickly coming back with his laptop.

“I don’t think this is necessary, Eddie. I’m seriously fine.”

Eddie looked Richie straight in the eyes, “I fucking died in that cavern. That should have been it for me. But fate decides against that and I woke up at the quarry, emerging from the water, just like Stan. Hell, Stan had been dead for days by then. He and I should be goners. But we were given a second chance after It was gone. Now, there is no killer clown and no one is dead in a sewer. There is no reason for you not to try and reach out. Be a good son or brother.”

Richie hesitated before saying, “I really don’t know how those things correlate but I see where you are coming from.”

“Oh, whatever,” Eddie said while logging onto his laptop, “let’s see who we can find. Any chance you know if your sister got married?”

“Nope.” Richie popped the P. Eddie shrugged and began typing on his computer.

“Well, nothing comes up with ‘Elizabeth Tozier.’ That means she’s married.”

“Good for her,” Richie said sarcastically, leaning his head back against the couch cushion, “she’s ahead of me on that.”

Eddie smirked, not looking from his screen, “Well, man up and that can change.”

“Did you seriously ask me to propose to you while insulting me?”

“Yes, yes I did.”

Richie hummed and listened to the typing coming from Eddie’s computer. It seemed like he was having trouble finding Elizabeth online. Or at least on social media.

After a few minutes, Eddie spoke up, “Okay, so I couldn’t find your sister on Facebook or even Google, but I found an article saying how your father sold his business about 5 years ago to move him and his wife to Los Angeles.”

Richie said up, “You are fucking kidding,” he took the laptop from Eddie and scrolled through the article. It was from the local newspaper from the town Richie moved to when he was a teenager. It said how acclaimed dentist Wentworth Tozier sold his company to a larger dental conglomerate and used the money to move him and his wife Maggie to a beach bound retirement in LA. 

“They live in Malibu,” Richie said with us eyes still glued to the screen, “my parents. That’s half an hour from here.”

Eddie took his computer back and typed quickly. Richie looked over his shoulder and cocked an eyebrow, “Whatcha doing?”

“Going through my company’s customer profiles,” Eddie said. He had gotten a job as a risk analyst at a major insurance firm in downtown that covered all of the rich people, especially the retired ones.

“You think they could be under you guys?”

“Possibly...” Eddie stuck his tongue out a little as he scrolled through the profiles, a small habit of his that Richie adored. It happened when he was so passionate about something he couldn’t control what his body did. It was adorable.

“Well hot damn,” Eddie said under his breath after a few minutes, “I found them.”

Richie leaned over to look at the screen while saying, “No way.”

“Yes way. It’s all right here. Address, contact information, whatever else.”

“Fuck...” Richie was getting overwhelmed. He hasn’t cared to really think about his parents in years. With his career starting off and him becoming successful, going back to Derry and killing it, and dating Eddie, it was like they never existed. He wasn’t Richard Tozier, son of Maggie and Wentworth, brother of Elizabeth, with straight As and perfect attendance. He was simply Richie Tozier, acclaimed comedian, Loser, and love of Eddie Kaspbrak’s life. That’s all he needed. He had moved beyond his blood. But there he was, his heart pounding over them. He didn’t like it.

“W-what am I supposed to do with this information, huh?” Richie was getting jittery with nerves, “go there? Say ‘hey, it’s me. You know, the son you practically abandoned after he followed his heart? By the way, I’m gay and dating the asthmatic who lived down the street from us in Derry.’ Is that what you want?”

Eddie moved his laptop aside and pulled Richie closer to him, taking his hands into his and squeezing, “I don’t want anything other than your happiness. We can put a pin in any idea of you seeing them right now if that’s what you want. We can never talk about this again and move on with our lives. Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” Richie said, nodding with a tear running down his face, “I would love to just never talk about it.”

“Alright,” and Eddie leaned over to exit out of the browser, “all done. You okay?”

Richie nodded, “Yeah. I am.”

They shared a comforting kiss, one that couldn’t help but elicit a smile from Richie. He loved kissing Eddie. Nothing in the world felt better than that.

••••

“The rich neighborhood?” Criticized Daniel, “really?”

“The more money the have, the more food the have,” replied his sister Madeline, “at least I think.”

“But we’re asking for cans, Mads. These people probably have their corn shipped straight to them from their private farms in Nebraska. Not in cans from Walmart!”

“Rich people are humans, too! Have you not seen all of the paparazzi pics of famous people in grocery stores? They need food to survive just as much as the people we are collecting cans for.”

“Danny, Maddie, please stop arguing,” said their mother as she took a large recycling bin with wheels out of the truck of her SUV, “We did not drive here from grandma and grandpa’s just for you to change your minds now.”

Daniel made a large huff, his chest greatly rising then falling, “Why so we have to do this, though? Don’t grandma and grandpa know other people who do this normally?”

Their dad spoke next while rubbing sunblock on his arms, “Your grandparents have a passion for helping those who need basic things, like food and clothes. They work with this nonprofit organization that collects items for the homeless. The beginning of summer is a great time to do that. Ana since we are staying with them for the rest of the month, we might as well help out.”

Madeline smacked her younger brother’s arm, “Don’t be a dick to homeless people, Danny.”

“Madeline White!” Her mother scolded, “We do not use that kind of language!”

“But he was!”

Her dad then said, “It doesn’t matter. We don’t use words like that.”

“Hehe,” Daniel laughed, “Mudmouth Maddie gets struck down once again!”

Their parents just sighed, and their dad handed his 14 year old daughter the tube of sunscreen, “Both of you, lather up. We’re going to be out here a while.”

“Yes daddy.” They said in unison.

He turned to his wife, “You got the list, Liz?”

She held up her phone, “On here. We ready?”

Daniel, who was 12, nodded as he handed back the sunblock, “Let’s go help some homeless people!”

They had already been generously let in by whoever operated the gate guarding the neighborhood. They worked their way down the streets, and Madeline seemed to be the one correct in their earlier argument. The people that were actually home were very kind and gave some cans of green beans, corn, beans, beats, peas, and even some fruit cups. Each house was pretty impressive, built with red brick and two stories tall. The trip to each front door was indeed a trip, because every driveway was twice as long as their own back home in Las Vegas. The recycling bin was filling up fast, for each large brick house with people inside gave much more than a singular can. 

It was a giant community. Each street was longer than the previous. When they reached the back part of the neighborhood, they were all tired. Daniel was outwardly complaining, leaning against his mother as they walked. Madeline teased him for not being athletic, but she too felt her feet ache against the pavement. Their parents weren’t doing too hot either, with their dad pulling the bin with all his might and their mother putting her curly black hair into a fluffy ponytail not even halfway through their journey.

God, never had LA felt so hot.

They came to a house at the end of one of the streets. It was smaller than some of the others, but still formidable walking up to it. Parked in the driveway was a red Mustang convertible and, ironically, a sensible sedan next to it. Daniel awed at the sports car, noting, “I want that when I turn sixteen.”

They went up to the front step and rang the door bell. After a few seconds and a muffled yell including the words “you,” “door,” and “phone,” the door opened to a man a little shorter than the children’s father in a red polo shirt and jeans.

“Hi, can I help you?” The man asked with his arms crossed.

Madeline cleared her throat and stepped in front of the other members of her family, “Hello, sir. We are collecting canned food for the Sands Homeless Institute of LA, a nonprofit that helps those in need of basic necessities. If there is any unused canned goods you wouldn’t mind donating, we would gladly appreciate them.”

The man looked at the family for a moment with a blank face, then smiled, “I’m sure I can find somethings. How long have you guys been at this?”

“About two hours by now,” their mother, Liz, answered, “this neighborhood is pretty big.”

“Which is why we decided to hit it!” Daniel proclaimed, and the man laughed.

“Yeah, it is. Confused me the first few days I lived here,” he peeked inside his house, thinking, then said, “Would you like to come in and get something to drink while I find some cans for you?”

“No, no,” their father put his hands up in protest, “we don’t want to intrude.”

“It’s June in California and there are no clouds blocking the sun. And I notice you don’t have water with you. We have lemonade, iced tea, water, whatever you need in here. Besides, I don’t know exactly what we have and it’ll take me a minute to find things. Please come in.”

Liz and her husband shared a look, one that would hint to others that they were reading each other’s minds. After a few moments of shared thought, Liz replied, “Alright, if you insist, Mr...?”

“Eddie,” the man smiled, “and you are?”

“I’m Zachary White,” the father replied, “this is my wife Elizabeth, and our children Madeline and Daniel.”

Zachary and Eddie shook hands and the White family stepped inside. The interior of the house seemed quite normal, not what the children expected out of something from a rich neighborhood. There weren’t many pictures on the wall, or decorations at all, for that matter. There were some plants here and there, and some framed photos on tables. Eddie led them to the kitchen, which was clean and very big, and opened the fridge, “Go ahead and take a seat at the island. What can I get you guys?”

“Water is fine for me and my husband,”

Elizabeth answered, “what do you want, kids?”

“Lemonade!” Both of them said at the same time, making Eddie laugh. He got four glasses out, filling all four of them with ice, two of them with water from the fridge’s filter and the others with Minute Made lemonade.

A muffled, unanalyzable voice was heard from afar, obviously not happy. Madeline took a sip of her drink and told Eddie, “Your wife doesn’t sound happy,” as she pointed behind her. 

Eddie laughed, “Actually, that’s my boyfriend on the phone with his manager. They tend to get at it from time to time.”

“Boyfriend?” Daniel asked, some of his drink dripping from his lips, “Since when can boys date other boys?”

Zachary and Elizabeth were silent. They looked at Eddie with narrow eyes; not angry, though. More deep with embarrassment. Though Eddie didn’t let them be embarrassed.

“It’s okay that they don’t know,” he said, “My mom did her best to keep me from knowing that stuff. Didn’t help that I felt that way towards boys. I assume you tried to keep their best interest at heart.”

Zachary nodded, “Homosexuality is attached to some not good things, like bullying and media harassment. We aren’t homophobic, I promise you.”

“We don’t mean for it to come off that way,” Elizabeth added.

“It’s alright,” Eddie smiled, then looked to the kids, “Yeah, my boyfriend. It’s totally cool for boys to date boys and for girls to date girls.”

“I already knew that!” Madeline grinned, “A girl in my math class is dating a girl from my history class! They kissed in the hallway once and got in trouble for PDA.”

There was a pause, and then the girl replied, “What? I’m fourteen, not ten. I know things exist.”

Eddie and Madeline shared a smile before the former went to the pantry and started digging through its items. He took out some cans of mixed veggies and set them down in front of the family. When there was maybe 15 cans out, Eddie closed the pantry door, “This should suffice. We never use these anyways. I like to use fresh produce and  someone  prefers to get takeout.”

The family laughed, and then a loud, stressed groan filled the air. Eddie’s attention changed from the cans to the person who made the noise, his boyfriend. He ran past the family and went over to the man in question. The Whites turned around, but Eddie nor his boyfriend were in sight.

“They had been walking for hours and needed some hydration,” they heard Eddie say, his voice getting louder, “I promise I’m not letting some hobos into our home. Well, more hobos.”

“Harsh, Eds,” said his boyfriend, “I even cleaned the dishes last night.”

Laughter filled the air and the two emerged from the other room. Madeline was taken aback by a few things. First, Eddie’s boyfriend was  way  taller than him, by almost a half foot. Secondly, he was bulky and lanky, again, much different from Eddie’s compact physique. Lastly, he looked almost exactly like herself, the only difference being him a male and wearing thick-rimmed glasses.

The boyfriend had stopped in his tracks, his eyes locked on something. That something was Madeline and Daniel’s mother, whom was also still in her spot. Madeline noticed Eddie trying to process something in his mind, and when he figured out whatever he did, he covered his mouth with his hands in shock. 

As Eddie took a few steps back, his boyfriend hesitantly shook out one word, or name, “Ellie...”

Neither Madeline or Daniel had heard their mother be called that. They had heard her real name and the occasional “Liz” or “Lizzie” from their father and grandparents, her parents. Never “Ellie.”Still, their mom stood up, swallowed down a lump in her throat, and clasped her hands in front of her professionally.

“Richard.”

They continued to stare. Elizabeth was keeping calm, at least from an outward perspective. “Richard” on the other hand was visibly losing his cool. His hands were shaking and his foot was tapping. It was like the anxiety was just taking over him a little bit at a time.

The silence broke when Eddie spoke up, “Why don’t you guys go talk in the living room? I’ll see if I can find any more cans.”

Both nodded, and Elizabeth and Richard left the room quietly. Eddie exhaled shakily and went to the fridge to get himself a beer.

Zachary spoke up, “Did you know when arrived?”

“No,” Eddie said after taking a swig of his drink, “I promise, I didn’t. I hadn’t seen Elli-Elizabeth since I was 15.”

Daniel was the first to catch that he almost called his mom the same nickname his boyfriend had, “You know our mom, too?”

“I used to,” he replied, “back when we were kids. We lived in the same neighborhood.”

“You’re from Maine as well?” Zachary asked, and Eddie nodded.

“We’ve never been to mom’s hometown before,” Madeline said, “she barley even remembers it, she said.”

“Derry’s not very memorable,” Eddie commented, “my mom and I eventually moved when I was sixteen. But your mother and Richie left about half a year before.”

“Together?”

Eddie nodded, “Last I checked, parents take both siblings when moving across the country.”

Madeline and Daniel froze. Siblings. That man, Eddie’ boyfriend, was their mom’s brother. Their uncle. That they never knew about.

What the fuck.

It was then when Elizabeth and Richie returned from the living room. Both were still alive and intact, and no one had heard screaming. That had to be a good sign.

Elizabeth pointed to Eddie, “Eddie Kaspbrak.”

“Hi Ellie,” he replied with a smile. She then ran to to him and hugged him.

“I knew you looked familiar,” she noted, “you haven’t changed. Your face looks exactly same. Holy sh- moly I completely forgot you existed. And now you’re dating my brother.”

“Wild story, huh?”

Elizabeth kept asking questions, “How did you guys meet again? I mean, Richie told me you moved to New York. And now you’re here with him. What happened?”

“Old friend of ours called us back a year ago to help him pack his stuff to move to Florida,” Richie said from behind, “remember Mike Hanlon?”

His sister turned around, “The homeschooled kid who delivered meat to the butcher shop?”

Richie nodded.

“So you, Eddie, and who else went? I remember you having more than just two friends.”

Zachary, Madeline, and Daniel were so lost, it wasn’t even funny. Daniel wasn’t even fully paying attention, his eyes wandering to his phone. But it was nice to see Elizabeth ecstatic and truly elated about something.

“It was us, Bill Denbrough—“

“The author?” Zachary chimes in, “William Denbrough?”

“Yep,” Richie smiled, “Ben Hanscom and Beverly Marsh went as well. Stan Uris couldn’t escape from work.”

Elizabeth let out an exasperated yet joyous noise, “I remember all of them! You spent a whole summer with them! You kept those photo booth pictures on your desk in your room for ages! Oh my God...”

She hugged her brother for what was the second time that day, the first being in the living room when she apologized for never getting in contact with him and admitting she had seen his comedic work and loved every bit of it. They admitted that they missed each other and missed whatever bond they had going before Richie had moved all those years ago. It was neither of their faults for the ripple in their relationship, and they both accepted that quickly. 

“Should I call mom and dad?” Elizabeth asked, “You know they live in Malibu.”

“I don’t know, Ellie,” Richie said, “they wanted nothing to do with me back then. Do you think it’s changed?”

“If there is one thing I know about mom and dad is that they always wanted you to be successful. And now you are, even if it wasn’t what they thought. We haven’t talked about you, really, but it’s been so long since you guys fought. Things have to be better.”

“Besides,” Daniel spoke up, his voice a little higher than usual, “I already texted grandma saying where we were and that we met our uncle.”

“Daniel!” Zachary scolded.

“That’s such a dick move, asshole,” Madeline replied.

“Madeline!”

Richie grinned, “I see she takes after me.”

“Oh, beep beep, Trashmouth,” Eddie replied, and Daniel bust out laughing.

“I call Maddie ‘Mudmouth!’”

Daniel and Eddie fist pumped when the doorbell rang. Eddie ran to the door while Richie started panicking. Elizabeth did her best to help calm him. Zachary and the kids stood up as Maggie and Wentworth entered the kitchen behind Eddie.

Once again, there was a tense silence in the air. Richie wiped his sweaty palms against his jeans and looked to his parents, but not in the eyes, “Hi mom...dad...”

Wentworth inhaled, then looked to his grandson, “I thought this was another prank, Daniel.”

“Well, it obviously wasn’t.”

Maggie walked up to her son and softly placed her hands on his face, cupping his cheeks. Her hands were warm, which Richie never remembered that being the case. He suddenly remembered the chill of her fingertips when she pulled him down into his seat at Stanley’s bar mitzvah after he made the most iconic line to come out of any Loser’s mouth. This was a different woman. A changed woman.

“Look how handsome you became,” she said with a smile, “I always knew you’d grow into your looks.”

“Gee, thanks ma.”

She looked around the kitchen, and in a way the house, “So this is yours?”

“Yeah,” Richie replied, “I’ve lived here for about 8 years.”

“And you’ve been financially stable?”

“Yes, mom. Especially since my tour from 15 years ago was extremely successful. I haven’t had a bad turnout since.”

Maggie sighed, “I guess I underestimated the power of comedy.”

“That you did,” Wentworth agreed, “you did good, son.”

“Thanks, dad. I appreciate it.”

After a few moments, Richie remembered something and moved to be next to Eddie, “Oh, by the way, I’m gay and dating the asthmatic kid who lived down the street from us in Derry.” Eddie waved.

“Oh my-“

“Eddie Kaspbrak?”

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Tozier.” Eddie smiled and Maggie hugged him.

“Oh, I remember you, hon,” she said as she released him, “Oh, but I remember how your mother was. I did not like that woman.”

“No one did,” Richie replied, “us kids were aware.”

They laughed and the entire group moved to the living room. They caught up over what had happened to Richie in the past 23 years, his different experiences with other famous comedians, how his other Derry friends were, and how him and Eddie fell in love. Maggie admitted she could tell Richie was in love with someone back during that summer because of how dreamy he could get. And of course it was over his best friend from down the street. It only made sense. 

After about an hour and half of talking, Richie cleared his throat to get the attention on him, “You know, it was only this morning when Eddie and I were talking about you guys.”

“Really?” Wentworth commented, “Well, what a coincidence!”

“No kidding,” Richie said, “and we even tried to find Ellie online. We couldn’t, though, since I had no idea what your new name was and ‘Elizabeth Tozier’ didn’t show up.”

“Social media isn’t really my thing,” she admitted, “not much good comes out of it.”

Richie nodded in agreement, “Well, Eddie made this sarcastic comment that I just love. You know why?” 

Everyone shook their heads. Richie smirked and stood up, taking Eddie’s hands into his own, who stood up as well. Eddie was just as confused as everyone else in the room.

“Eddie is the person to thank for what’s happened today. If it weren’t for his amazing kindness and selflessness to help some dehydrated strangers, I wouldn’t have gotten my blood family back. He is really the driving factor of today. That’shonestly a debt I will never be able to repay. I have no clue how I would.

“The comment he made this morning came from him not being able to find Ellie. He mentioned how she had to be married, and I joked saying that she was way ahead of me on that. Then he told me to man up and that could change. Well, good thing for him, I decided to ‘man up’ a month ago.”

He felt all eyes on him, intently. Eddie’s hands were shaking in Richie’s, which wasn’t normal. But it was a good anxiousness, Richie could feel it. So he went on.

“So it’s a good think I dragged Bill to a ring shop a few weeks ago. And I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment, and I guess this is as good a time as ever.”

Richie kneeled down in front of Eddie while reaching into his back pocket. Once he was down on one knee, he presented a small, blue velvet box to Eddie and looked deep into his ocean brown eyes that he loved so much. He loved every part of that man. 

He popped the box open.

“Eddie Kaspbrak, will you marry me?”

It was that moment when Eddie burst out crying. He joined Richie on the floor and nodded as the tears flooded on, “Yes! Holy shit, yes!”

They kissed so deeply they could have melted into one another. Richie’s family stood up and cheered. When they parted, Richie took the simple silver ring out of the box and slipped it onto Eddie’s finger. They kissed again.

“You have to invite us to the wedding,” Madeline said, wiping tears from her eyes, “otherwise you would be shitty uncles.”

They laughed and Richie nodded, “Of course all of you are invited. Shouldn’t that be a given?”

Richie hugged every single member of his family one by one, including Zachary, who was extremely happy for a man he only heard of before, and not in the best way. They popped a bottle of champagne for the adults and got more lemonade for the kids and spent some time celebrating. When it had gotten very dark, the elder Toziers decided it was best to head home.

“I’ll leave you our address, dear,” Maggie told Richie, “don’t shy away from visiting.”

“I won’t, mom. I promise.”

He hugged Elizabeth one more time before her and her family had to go. Eddie offered to drive them to their car, which had been sitting in front of a random house for almost 5 hours by then. They obliged, and Eddie gave Richie a quick kiss before leaving the house with everyone else.

It was small moment alone to take it all in. Richie had gotten his blood back and got engaged to the boy of his childhood dreams all in one day. It was so much. He sat down in the couch and wiped away a tear. He had never felt so genuinely happy in his life. It was all falling into place, finally. Finally, things were perfectly good. And he truly had everything he needed.


End file.
